NOTE: See Panniers v2

I ordered a pair of Pelican 1550 cases to use as side panniers and a 1500 as a top-case. I'll be mounting them somehow on a Happy Trails SU rack once that actually arrives...

Pelican 1550	Pelican 1500

The cases were from Cases4Less.com, and the all three were under $270, shipping included.

At first, I was trying to figure out a way to mount the cases so that they were easily removable, but after trying a couple brackets from the local hardware store, I bailed on that and just bolted the cases to the rack. Up top are two 8mm bolts, threaded into the holes in the rack and on the bottom are two 6mm bolts through non-threaded holes. All the bolts are "high strength" (not the regular bolts) with a 12.9 rating. You should be able to find these in just about any hardware store.

The cases seem pretty solidly attached now. I also drilled some extra holes in the vanes on the top and bottom of the cases, which can be used as tie-down points for straps or bungie cords.

They definately seem to hold up to rough treatment. I've crashed maybe 10 times (nothing high-speed, maybe 15 or 20mph tops) in terrain ranging dirt and gravel roads to trees and sharp rocks. The cases have been heavily scratched, but have not come loose from the rack and have not really sustained any heavy damage.